


Black Ribbon and Gold Seams

by Faeruy



Category: RWBY
Genre: Canon Compliant, Character Study, F/F, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, I Don't Even Know, Mentioned Nora Valkyrie, Mentioned Ruby Rose (RWBY), Minor Character(s), Minor Lie Ren/Nora Valkyrie, Self-Reflection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 11:33:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29206665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Faeruy/pseuds/Faeruy
Summary: It's a quiet evening after RWBN and May take the injured Nora back to Schnee Manor and Blake Belladona has a moment to reflect on things. Unsurprisingly, those thoughts tend to revolve around her absent partner.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long
Comments: 1
Kudos: 56





	Black Ribbon and Gold Seams

**Author's Note:**

> Been a long time since I wrote fanfiction, but I recently started watching RWBY again, and this kind of wormed my way into my head until I figured I had to write it. Hard to call it anything but a dive into what I imagine is Blake's headspace, more of a character exploration than anything else. Sometimes, you just gotta write, you know?

It was quiet in the Schnee Manor; still, and peaceful in a way that made Blake uneasy. Given everything that was going on in Atlas, in Mantle, in the whole of Remnant, the quiet just felt wrong. Like the calm before the worst kind of storm. Blake tried to push her worry aside, at least for the moment. Quiet was good. Peace was good. Nora needed it, if she was going to rest and recover. And if there was a storm on the horizon, they would need the girl who channeled lightning.

Blake sat vigil over the redhead's resting form, mostly for her own peace of mind. Weiss, Ruby and May left after a cup of tea, resolving to make a plan, but Blake couldn’t be so hopeful. It seemed like there wasn’t much they could do at the moment. Keeping Nora company, just so she wouldn’t be alone when she woke felt at least semi-productive. But in the quiet, alone with her thoughts, the prone form of her friend, and Gambol Shroud in her lap, Blake was starting to think she made a mistake. She took a look out at the window, at the darkened landscape with that foreboding red lightning sparking every so often, no longer startling but still filling her with a deep sense of dread. Blake twisted the black ribbon of Gambol Shroud in her hand nervously, winding it around her palm and wrist, as if it would make it easier. A spark of red flashed by the window, and for a moment, the gold seam in her blade reflected that unearthly light and all she could think of was a burning semblance and red eyes. She squeezed her hand into a fist, the ribbon digging into her skin. 

Yang better be okay. Wherever she was.

She needed her partner back.

Blake thought back to the talk she had with Nora - a few hours ago, or yesterday? Time seemed to drag and speed up without rhyme or reason. She told Nora not to forget the parts of who she was without Ren. Blake had made that mistake when she was following Adam - losing herself in the face of his convictions, his drive, his obsessions and it cost her nearly everything. She wouldn’t, couldn’t do that again. It was part of why she didn’t go with Yang originally. As hard as it was to go their separate ways, Blake believed with all her might that it was necessary to get the message out about Salem. And she had no intention of becoming Adam - she didn’t want Yang to back down, ignore her own convictions just because Blake thought otherwise. She had wanted so badly for them to be together, protecting each other, but some things were just more important. 

She just had to trust Yang would come back to her. Like she always did. Though it was a lot easier when she was only as far as the end of a black ribbon. Blake realized she was cutting off circulation, and unwound the ribbon from her wrist, lessening the pressure, but she didn’t let go.

She wasn’t going to lie to herself. Yang wasn’t just a friend to her, not just a partner. She was in love with the blond bruiser. Once upon a time that realization might have scared her, sent her running for the hills. But she had made a promise to Yang not to run away anymore, and besides that, she didn’t want to. Yang was a part of herself, and if she was honest, had been for a long time.

With nothing else to occupy her thoughts, Blake let her mind drift back, back to those early days at Beacon, when she was still trying to hide who she was and where she came from. They didn't have a great start. Yang called her a lost cause, and Blake passed her by in the woods with no intention of slowing down. But the Ursa showed up, and Blake couldn't leave another alone to deal with monsters and without thinking about it, she chose Yang. It still didn't really click until Ruby made that ridiculous plan to stop the Nevermore and she tossed Yang her weapon for the first time. That had felt like the most natural thing in the world, and it really shouldn't have been.

Blake hadn't gone to a combat school; she learned everything on the road, as a White Fang, so while she was battle tested in a way most of her peers weren't, she missed out on some of the nuances. She designed her weapon to help her move around quickly and easily; speed and stealth were more important than causing actual damage, even if she did make the sheathe into a secondary weapon so she could still protect herself. It hadn't occurred to her to share it back when she was in the White Fang, but she'd never heard anyone speak against it either. So when Ruby suggested it, she did what she always did and toss her weapon, the weighted end, towards her target. Towards Yang. While she held onto the ribbon end. Ruby confessed later that she assumed both ends were weighted somehow, and that Blake would throw Yang the other end, letting the blond use her strength to pull it taut, while Blake kept the anchor point and therefore, her weapon. It wasn't until they were training partner moves in class, in front of Goodwitch and everyone that she realized just how odd it was. Goodwitch explained then that a Hunter or Huntress's weapon was a part of them, becomes imbued with their Aura - to share it like Blake did with Yang was extremely personal and usually required a great deal of trust. Blake made some excuses then; it didn't work any other way, and with her sheath, she wasn't ever going to be totally defenseless. 

Yang had simply said ' _She's got nothing to worry about. She can trust me._ '

It took Blake a little longer to truly believe that, to truly trust, but it never stopped them. The move worked. Connected by a little black ribbon, they could fling each other around, yo-yo back and forth, build up speed, momentum and power, and nothing stood in their way. And nobody else could do anything like it. She even remembered when Yang started calling it the Bumblebee.

' _Cause it's like my bike; we're going for a ride!_ ' She had said that with her normal un-subtle insinuations. _'And just like your bike, it's likely going to end with you dead in a ditch someday._ ' Blake had responded back. That had given them both the giggles, which somehow managed to piss off both Ruby and Weiss, who were taking maneuver practice very seriously that day. The name stuck.

She didn't know why she didn't see it then; how Yang trusted Blake as her anchor, how Blake trusted Yang to respect the part of herself she gave her. How they could leave themselves open to a connection, stretch it to the full distance, and come back to each other better for it. If she had seen it sooner, then things might have been very different; during the Vytal Festival, and then after the Fall of Beacon. She might not have run, might not have tried to break the ties that bound them. Then again, if she hadn't run, then she might not have been able to effect change with the White Fang and the faunus. 

In the end it still hasn't broken them, though they had lost time, and things were so strained for so long. Sometimes Blake had wondered if they would ever go back to the way they were before. Turned out they wouldn't, but different didn't mean worse. They were friends, they were partners, and somewhere along the line she realized they were more. A part of each other. Bonded. There was no one she was closer to, no one else she'd rather spend her time with. She loved Yang, more than she ever thought possible. Her strength, her intelligence, her humor, her honesty. She was pretty sure Yang loved her too, though they hadn't really put it into words. But it showed, in the way they always gravitated towards each other, the way they could communicate with a glance, the way they always seemed to know where the other was. They could disagree, listen to each other, respect their differences. They protected each other. They promised.

Except now, they couldn't. She was at Schnee Manor, after making sure all of Remnant knew about Salem. Yang was… she didn't know where Yang was. Down in the thick of things, most likely, doing what she did best. Fighting monsters, saving those who didn't have her strength. Maybe looking up at Atlas wondering where Blake was, thinking maybe she should have said something before they parted.

Blake realized that there were tears welling up in her eyes. She blinked them away and stared at Nora, breathing, still and silent. She wasn't scared of being in love with Yang. But she was scared that she had missed the chance to tell her. That somehow something bad would happen, and the ribbon would break for good, and she'd lose a part of herself and there'd be no gold to repair it.

She just had to trust that everything would be alright, and Yang would come back to her. And then, then she would tell her.

Gambol Shroud flashed red-gold, and a rumble of thunder broke the silence a moment afterwards. The whale was waiting, and the storm was almost upon them.


End file.
